Smarts
by Clockwork Mockingbird
Summary: While not exactly known for using them all the time, the Straw Hats do possess some smarts. ZoNa.


It all happened pretty fast. Life on a ship, life at sea, and life with the Straw Hats in general was full of surprises, adventure, and lots of mishaps. Often, there were shenanigans.

Shenanigans that lead to mishaps and Nami nearly drowning, however, Zoro could live without.

Chopper, Usopp, and Luffy were playing a game of tag that ranged all over the ship and left everyone dodging the over excited crew members. Zoro's nap had already been interrupted twice, and he was dangerously close to ending the game. Permanently. Sanji was busy in the kitchen, but Robin and Nami were on deck with him, and they were both expressing irritation at being interrupted.

Robin couldn't concentrate on her book, and if a few hands just _happened_ to appear and trip feet or hooves, well, who could blame her?

Nami was trying to enjoy the sun. She debated briefly on working on her tan, but with three hyperactive people- well, two people and a reindeer- she could barely sit still long enough to read the paper before one of them came crashing into her. Or over her. Or around her.

"Would you knock it off? Some of us are tying to sleep!"

Zoro had reached the end of his rope, and Nami didn't want to be around for the ensuing chaos that was surely about to unfold. Deciding that she could get some charting done while the light was good, she stood to head inside. Maybe she could swindle a sugary treat out of Sanji on her way.

Robin, silently committing chaos of her own with a few helping hands, grabbed Usopp's ankle.

Usopp went flying into Luffy.

Luffy knocked Chopper right over.

A wave crashed into the ship with just enough force to knock everyone slightly off balance.

Usopp bounced backwards off Luffy and right into Nami.

And Nami, still careening from the jostle of the wave, went right over the railing, head cracking against the wood, and into the water.

Zoro was on his feet in seconds, shoes kicked off, swords dropped. He dove over the side before Robin and the others could push themselves to their feet.

He'd heard her head connect with the railing. There was no way she was conscious after a blow like that. If Nami was unconscious, she couldn't swim. If she couldn't swim, she certainly couldn't hold her breath.

Damn it, he'd been _right there_ and Nami had gotten hurt.

Zoro powered through the water, eye on the faint glow of orange hair sinking into dark ocean.

Nami wasn't ever supposed to get hurt. Not while he was there to protect her. Not ever.

_She's so small_.

Nami might have been proud of her figure, her tiny waist, the flare at her hips, the swell of her breasts (not that he ever noticed those, mind you), but whenever Zoro was near her, or had his arm around her waist- like now, pulling her up towards the light, the surface of the water, and air- he was reminded how... small she was.

How breakable.

They broke the surface mere minutes after hitting the water, Nami's head cradled perfectly against the curve of his neck, body limp in his arms as he kicked towards the ship, the crew nervously crowding the railing, scanning the water for them.

Zoro heard Luffy's shout and gratefully grabbed the hands stretched towards them.

Nami was still and silent.

He didn't like it.

"Nami?" He gently tapped her cheek, hoping to rouse her.

Chopper knelt beside them. "Tilt her head back," he instructed. "And open her mouth. She swallowed a lot of water."

Zoro may not have known a lot about medicine, or how to do anything other than clean wounds and how to survive despite the odds, but Chopper had insisted they all learn what to do when someone nearly drowned. They were constantly at sea, after all, and half the crew couldn't swim.

It was Zoro's job to protect everyone- to protect Nami in battle, those who ate the devil fruit when they were at sea, everyone- and so he had paid rapt attention at those lessons.

Nami had gone overboard on his watch. But he could help her now.

Robin was best at chest compressions, which came as no surprise, and though Sanji loudly offered his services for the mouth-to-mouth, Zoro gently tilted Nami's head to the correct angle, blowing air into her lungs at Chopper's count.

Nami inhaled sharply, coughed, and was promptly rolled onto her side as she spat out the water she'd swallowed.

"Oh," she moaned. "What the hell-"

The crew let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Nami-swan! I knew you wouldn't leave me!"

"Quiet crap-cook."

"What was that moss head?!"

"I said quiet," Zoro snapped. "She hit her head, idiot. I doubt you yelling is making it feel any better."

Nami was too busy trying to calm the bullet of pain that ricocheted into every corner of her skull to confirm the noise level was a bit on the loud side. She concentrated on Zoro's hand- it had to be Zoro's, who else had hands large enough to span nearly her entire back- rubbing firmly but gently along her spine.

"We should take her to the infirmary," Robin said calmly.

Luffy clapped his hands once, and made an announcement. "Zoro should carry her."

Sanji decided the captain had lost his mind.

"What!"

"She does watch over him when he's hurt," Chopper reminded them. "He should return the favor."

"And he's already got her halfway to the infirmary anyways," Usopp said, spying Zoro, Nami in his arms, headed away from the group.

Chopper scrambled after them, and maybe it was perfect timing, or maybe it was luck, but he heard Nami's voice, weak and teasing.

"That's not how I pictured a kiss from you."

"Picture me kissing you a lot, do you?"

"You wish."

And maybe it was because Nami closed her eyes and slipped into sleep, maybe because Chopper was far enough behind him that Zoro thought he wouldn't see, or maybe his world was filled entirely with Nami, but there in the doorway to the infirmary, Zoro angled his head down, brushing aside her hair with his nose, and pressed his lips carefully against her forehead.

"Not what I pictured either," Zoro whispered against her skin.

Chopper gave them a moment, because he was smart, and said nothing about it when he followed them inside, because he was brilliant.

But he told Robin all about it that night, because he was a genius.

And if a few days later, Robin just so happened to shove them into each other- not her finest move she'll admit, but desperate times- well, who could blame her?

The next time a game of tag was suggested, Zoro immediately informed Nami she was going into the Crow's Nest with him, and that area was _Off Limits_ in every sense of the word.

Everyone noticed that they stayed up there, high above the world, long after the game of tag ended. But none of them said anything.

Well, okay, Luffy said something, but was promptly distracted by something meaty before Nami or Zoro could hear. Sanji, as disgruntled as he was, was pretty smart too.


End file.
